Sliding-gear mechanism.



H. M. RUSSELL, Jn.

GEAR MEGHAlfIISM.

MAY 14, 1909 Patented Sept. 28,1909.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY m. RUSSELL, an, or WHEELING, wEsr VIRGINIA.-

SLIDING-GEAR MECHANISM.

Application filed May 14, 1909. Serial No. 495,859.

'To all whom it may concern:

Jr., of 'hceling, Ohio county, Vest Virginia, have invented'a new and useful Improvement in Sliding-Gear Mechanisms, of which the following is a description, referi-m-c being had to the accompanying drawing, forming part of this specification, in which the figure is an isometric view of the improvement. i

My invention relates to sliding gear mechanisms used for various purposes but particularly to those used for-speed changing in automobiles.

()ne object of my invention is to permit the use of helical gearing and'at the same time to permit the gears to he slid into and out of mesh whiletheir shafts are stationary.

Another object of my invention is to permit a helical gear to be mounted so that it may slide along its shaft but so that the end thrust due to the-helical form of tooth will not tend to make the gear slide along its shaft.

My invention consists of two helical gears that of the gears, and one of the said gears being free to slide along the said shaft and spline.

In the figurethe numerals 1 and 2 res ectively refer to the gears. The numera s 3 and 4 respectively refer to the shafts and the numeral refers to the spline on the shaft 3. The gear 1 is supposed to fit over the shaft 3 and the spline 5. The spline 5 has the same pitch as the teeth of the gear 1, that is to say, if both the spline and a tooth be produced they will pass completely around the shaft in the same distance measured lengthwise.

It will be seen that there will be no tendency for the gears to squeezeont of mesh since the end thrust due to the form of tooth is exactly counteracted by the shape of the spline. It will also be seen that the gears may be slid out of and into mesh while the shafts are stationary just as with the present straight gears.

The advantage claimed for my invention is that it permits the use of helical gears in a sliding gear mechanisnysnch gears being smoother and quieter in action than the gears now employed.

In the claims the word helical is. used in the ordinary mechanical acceptation of the word is not'intended to be confined to a true helix- Any shape planed by a gear planing machine which had been set to plane a helical gear would be helical in the sense in which that word is used herein. The Words in the same sense are also used. By this is meant that two helical forms are either both similar to a right-handed screw or both similar to a left-handed screw.-

I claim 1. In a slidin gear mechanism the combination of a shaft, a gear sliding thereon, thev said shaft being so shaped that the gear cannot rotate independently of the shaft, and the said shaft and the said gear both being uniformly and equally twisted and in the same sense about the axis of the said shaft.

In a sliding gear mechanism the combination of a shaft, a helical spline on the. said shaft, a helical gear sliding on the said shaft and fitting over the said spline, the pitch of the said spline and of the s aidhelical gear being equal and in the same sense.

3. In a sliding gear mechanism the combination of two shafts, two helical "ears I mounted respectively on the saidshafts, a helical spline on one of the said shafts and of the same pitch as the said gears, one 0f the said gears being adapted to slide along the shaft with the spline, and having a groove cut in it to fit the said spline.

4. In a sliding gear mechanism the combination of two shafts, a helical spline'on one of them, two helical gears, one of the said gears fitting over the'said shaft and spline and being adapted to slide thereon, the other ear being ri idly fastened to the other shaft, the said spline being so shaped that it will produce an end thrust equal and opposite to that produced by the helical tooth form when power is' transmitted through the gears.

5. In a sliding gear mechanism the combination of two shafts a spline on one of them, two gears, one sliding on the shaft with the sphne', the other, fixed on the other shaft, the said shaft with the spline and the gear on it being uniformly and equally twisted in the same sense and the other gear being uniformly andequally twisted in the opposite sense. HENRY M. RUSSELL, JR.

.Witnesses: G. A. FEENir,

J. H. BRENNAN. 

